Leeds United are interested in reuniting with Everton midfielder Fabian Delph following the Elland Road outfit’s return to the Premier League, according to the Daily Star.
Leeds secured their long-awaited return to the top-flight as Championship winners during the 2019/20 season, and are now believed to be scouring the market for players who can add valuable Premier League experience to Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Delph and Tottenham Hotspur full-back Danny Rose are two potential targets Bielsa has in mind having been gifted a lucrative budget by Whites owner Andrea Radrizzani, and could look to bring the pair back to where their careers began.
Delph only joined Everton last summer when the Toffees agreed a deal of up to £10million with Manchester City, but the England midfielder has since suffered frequent injuries and been restricted to starting just 13 of his 16 league appearances.
Leeds are said to be confident that Delph could be on the market this summer and that a deal for the 30-year-old could be struck at just 50% of what Everton paid, and feel a similar fee of around £5m would be enough to also lure Rose back to Elland Road.
Most Everton fans are unlikely to look negatively on Leeds looking to sign Delph this summer, having recently flocked to social media urging the Blues to flog the flop midfielder in a free transfer just to get his £80,000-per-week contract off the books.
Should Delph be at Goodison Park next season?
Absolutely
No way
Delph made the fourth-most starts in the centre of Everton’s midfield during the 2019/20 Premier League season, with only Gylfi Sigurdsson (25), Tom Davies (21) and Andre Gomes (17) opening more fixtures than the 30-year-old (13).
In those matches, Delph also averaged the most attempted passes (59.4) and accurate short passes (47), while ranking third for tackles won (2.0), fifth for key balls (0.6) and seventh for interceptions (1.0) per 90 minutes, according to WhoScored data.
Clearly, then, Carlo Ancelotti would lose certain aspects of his side by selling Delph this summer, but there are more than enough ways the Italian can make up for what the England international could offer when – or if – fit.